Category Archives: Sunday Morning

A changed life

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The Gospel of John offers each reader with choices. One can take the easiest, the most obvious paths through it, perhaps the one that will not require much from you, not ask for a change in heart or life. For example, a Pharisee, Nicodemus, meets Jesus and has the choice to be born “anothen.” He can understand the choice as being born again or being born from above.  Nicodemus never grasps the higher choice: to be born from above – perhaps it is too risky for him. Life doesn’t change for Nicodemus (at least not yet). The Samaritan woman Jesus meets at the well has a choice between flowing waters or living waters – she asks about the living waters and enters into a new life, immediately returning to her town and proclaiming the good news of the gospel. Her life has changed. This is a recurring theme in John’s Gospel. What about Cana?

When Holy Land tours reach Cana there is generally an opportunity for the married couples to receive a blessing. It is a wonderful and touching moment. The tours don’t linger there because there is a busy schedule of visiting other sacred sites. I remember the first time I was in Cana and as we moved off to the next stop, I remember thinking “the story of Cana has more to offer.” I wondered “whose life has changed?” Mary or the Apostles? You could certainly make that argument. There is certainly a stronger case that Cana is the “life changer” for Jesus. This we already know: Jesus was truly born from above and came to dwell among us. He has been anointed in the Spirit on the banks of the Jordan River. Perhaps now the question is will he unleash the living waters into the world? Has that hour arrived? Jesus is clear: “My hour has not yet come.”

“The hour” – an expression in John that points to the Cross, the ultimate and great sign of our redemption. True, that hour has not yet come, but I think Mary, in her gift of wisdom, understands the deeper story that is unfolding. Think about it this way: over the timeline of meeting, dating, becoming engaged, the wedding, building a common life, starting a family, and all that fall between and is yet to come – what is “the hour?” Some things play out over the course of time and all are part of “the hour.” I think Mary understands that and actually kind of ignores Jesus’ response, turns to the servants and says: “Do whatever he tells you.” She understands that “the hour” has already begun and the clock is ticking.

In the Cana story there are six water containers – all empty.  They are not containers for drinking water, they are set aside for the Jewish rituals of purification, being made ritually pure, able to enter the wedding feast.  Jesus orders them filled and then changes the water to wine.  The best of wines, in abundance, about 150 gallons.  Wine in superabundance – the OT sign of the kingdom of God, the great banquet of God.  The great in-gathering when all the faithful will be made clean – not with the ritual waters of Jewish custom but with… with… well, the OT never says.  

Here at Cana the water becomes wine – a sign of the coming kingdom, a sign giving us a glimpse of the Eucharistic wine at the Last Supper – but even more importantly pointing to when the wine of the last supper will become the blood of the cross. When the OT water rituals are replaced with Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, when we are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and redemption is complete.

I think Mary’s gift to her Son is this: “This is when the hour begins. When is it complete? You will know. The choice you make now is part of the choice you will make all along the way, right up to the hour’s end.” Jesus chooses and the living waters of the Gospel begin to flow into the world with the first sign of God’s power now in the world.. At the end Jesus will choose that the will of the Father be done – and redemption will be complete. 

At this point in the story, how could anyone know all of this? They couldn’t. It is only in the larger narrative of the entire Gospel of John that the simple sign of water changing to wine is fully revealed and made known.  But we are in the here and now, and knowing what we know – we know the story. We are called to choose. To choose how we are to be in the world – born again, or born from above.  Seeking flowing waters or living waters.  Seeing the simple miracle or seeing the fuller glory of the Lord. And in the fullness of the Glory of God to know that we are gifted to be in this time and place to show the glory and preeminence of God. We are baptized in the sanctifying waters of Baptism. We are anointed and gifted by the Holy Spirit: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.” (1 Cor 12:4)

In the story at Cana, Mary, the woman filled with grace, uses the Spirit-given gift of Wisdom. Whose life was changed? Jesus, the Son of God, anointed in the Spirit, unleashing the beginning of the hour when all will be redeemed? Whose life was changed? Everyone who believes into the Son of God.

The story of Cana gives one context to this life. You meet the love of your life; the hour begins. How will the story unfold? You bring your gifts to the marriage. You include the wisdom of God so that your marriage and life are fonts of living water nourishing those around you. The hour ends as you enter the bright glory of God in everlasting life. 

You come to St. Francis in Triangle.You whose hour began in the waters and anointing of Baptism. We are one chapter in your unfolding story. Our story joins with yours; our gifts join with yours. Bring your gifts to the life and ministry of this parish, in this time and place. Whose life will be changed? We can’t begin to imagine all the souls that will be touched. Choose the life from above. Choose the living waters. The hour is already upon us…and we know the ending – the eternal wedding feast of heaven.

Image credit: The Marriage Feast at Cana | Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, 1672 | The Barber Institute of Fine Art | PD-US | Photograph by DeFacto – Wiki Commons | CC-SA-4.0

Beginnings and Belonging

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One of my seminary classmates told me of a nice tradition his religious community maintained. Each priest had his own copy of The Rite of Baptism of Children. Written on the front inside cover was the name of the priest and the first child that he baptized. The simple notation in the Rite book was the start of two stories: a priestly vocation and a story of Christian beginning.  Stories that unfold as the weeks become months become years. Continue reading →

Rise Up!

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“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” So proclaims the opening of our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 60. Earlier in Isaiah, the prophet spoke to the people returning to Jerusalem from more than 40 years in exile in Babylon. Then his words were to give praise and glory to God for they had been redeemed and delivered from the sins that led to their exile. But now, the prophet tells them it is the time to rise up because the glory of the Lord is radiating from them to the whole world. They are like a city gleaming in the light of the newly risen sun, shining with a beauty that is not their own. And the world is responding: “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.”  The reading paints a vivid picture of people coming from the four corners of the world, drawn by the light and glory of God, bringing their riches – not to the people of Jerusalem – but as gifts to the Temple where they can proclaim “the praises of the Lord.”

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Family Holiness

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Is your family holy? What makes a family holy?

Most often when we think of families, we think of what makes them healthy – and that’s a good question, a good goal, and something worth time and energy to ensure. A family should want to be a place where its members feel welcomed, warm, embraced, safe, supported, loved and so much more.  But do all those things – as good as they are – make a family holy?

Is your family religious? Of course one answer is – “why sure…we are here at church.”  And if you are here to give praise and worship to God, then St. Thomas Aquinas would hold that your family is religious in that you possess the virtue to give God that which is fitting worship and praise.

Is your family holy?  Aquinas makes a distinction between being religious and being holy. Holiness is the virtue by which we make all our acts in accord with the will of God. 

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Anything but ordinary

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We live in a world of email, text messaging, tweets, instagrams, and all manner of connectivity in social and electronic media. It has become all very ordinary. Yet, each day, I am more than a little curious about what comes “old school” via USPS into my mailbox. There is correspondence from the Diocese, advertisements for one thing or another, bills and invoices, catalogues, and “ta-da!”… Christmas cards. Continue reading →

Gaudete in Domino semper

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The prophets Zephaniah and John the Baptist are not the two most joyful characters in all of Scripture, yet we hear from them both today. They are paired with the great Advent refrain from the Letter to the Philippians: “Gaudete in Domino semper,” –  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” This is Gaudete Sunday. Everything about today’s readings call to the people of God to get excited, be demonstrative, and above all be joyful, celebrate, and rejoice. Even the dour, prophet of doom, Zephaniah can’t restrain himself and tells us “Shout for joy…Sing joyfully… Be glad and exult with all your heart!” The book of Zephaniah is only three chapters long, filled with death, doom, fire, flood, pestilence and plague – yet even he tells us to shout for joy!

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The long arc of Salvation

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Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It is a very Catholic celebration that is often misunderstood outside Catholicism (and to be fair sometimes among Catholics). In popular culture there are lots of misconceptions about the Immaculate Conception. In TV and movies when the woman wonders how her pregnancy is possible, “it just can’t be…” there is some character who comments, “Oh, another Immaculate Conception?”  But the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Virgin Birth. In correctly-expressed Catholic theology, our celebration, the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Mary, the one we honor with the title the Blessed Virgin Mary. If you would like to read about the development of the celebration and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, you can find that information here.

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A map for Advent

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Again the voice cries out: “Prepare the way of the Lord” – as it did last year; as it will again. What have you prepared? What will you remember about this Advent? 

Did you know I used to live in Loudoun County back in the 1980s? I owned a home in the hamlet of Paeonian Springs. After growing up in Florida and always living near the ocean, suddenly I was inland and living on the first ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. After years of competitive swimming, I was now living in a county that, at that time, did not have a public swimming pool. I needed a new sport.

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What can possibly save us?

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“The days are coming…[when] Judah will be made safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure.” Such was the promise of the prophet Jeremiah to the beleaguered people of the City of David under the ominous cloud of war and death – the power of the Egyptian King Neco to the south and the armies of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to the north and east.  That was then. Where are the prophets now when Jerusalem is a divided city and the missiles of Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran have the City of David within their reach. Are the prophets now replaced by the anti-missile technology of the Iron Dome? The system promises to protect Israel, but it cannot promise to save Israel, to make Jerusalem safe and secure. Continue reading →

The Kosmos

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“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.’” (John 18:36)

I suspect that for most of my life, I have understood Jesus’ words as saying, my kingdom is not in this world, but is in the next; not a matter of earthly concerns, but of heavenly ones. In other words, all this will pass away, and, in the end, there will only be heaven. But then Scripture promises a new heaven and new earth… Turns out the Greek word used, kosmos, includes our traditional understanding of heaven and earth …. hmmm. What to make of “does not belong to this world?”

There is another way to hear and understand Jesus’ encounter with Pontius Pilate. Think about the way we use the word, “world.” If someone wants to talk with me about the finer points of authentic French cooking, I might reply, “Sorry, that’s not my world” can mean anything from not part of my experience, not part of my interests, not something I have time to deal with – and, no doubt, a range of similar meanings. Turns out kosmos, in one of its definitions, means “the order and arrangement of things.” French cooking is definitely not in the order of “my world.”

So, what might Jesus mean? Maybe, Jesus’ words are as simple as this: “Pilate, your world of pax romana is a world where order, your kosmos, are maintained by intimidation, power, and ultimately violence or the threat of retaliatory violence. That is your world, not the world my Father in heaven intended here on earth. If that were my world, then my followers would meet violence with violence.”

In other words, pax Christi will not be achieved by violence. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood Jesus’ meaning. He wrote:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. (“Where Do We Go From Here?” as published in Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?)

That is Jesus’ world – light and love. That is a choice we have as people, as a community, as a nation.

It was the choice given to Francis of Assisi who grew up in a world of Crusades, knights and grand adventure. When Assisi went to war against the city of Perugia over control of the valley land between the cities.  The armies met on the battlefield of Colestrada.  Such was Francis’ world, a world where order and peace were maintained by intimidation, power and ultimately violence. Assisi was roundly defeated, Francis taken prisoner, and spent the next year as a prisoner of war in the dungeons of Perugia. Upon release, Francis’ world began to unravel but he held onto his dream of glory and honor on the field of battle. And soon another occasion arose, another call to the Crusades.

One evening, Francis saw, in a vision, a beautiful palace, and there he saw various suits of armor and a lovely bride. In that same dream Francis was called by name and sensed the promise of all these things. Because war as a means to glory was Francis’ world, he again suited up in armor to join the crusade. On the way to join the gathering army, there was a second dream. Again, the palace appeared, but a voice in the dream asked, “Who can do more for you, the servant or the Lord?” “The Lord,” said Francis. “Then why do you seek the servant instead of the Lord?” Francis then asked: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” God was about to introduce Francis to a whole new world and new understanding of Christ as the King of the kosmos. A world that reflects God’s love, inviting and embracing, forgiving and reconciling, never intimidating, punishing, and resorting to violence.

Years later, the people of the town of Gubbio were beset by a wolf they saw as terrorizing the town, killing its sheep, and becoming the source of ever-growing accounts of a beast who would kill for the sake of killing. In their world, you mounted a hunting party and took the battle to the beast. And they did. Several people lost their lives. At this point, they sent for Francis to come and drive the wolf away.

Intimidation, punishment, banishment, and violence were no longer part of Francis’ world – he had chosen Christ as King and entered a new world. Dialogue, understanding, reconciliation were the tools and not weapons. Francis found the wolf and simply uncovered the reality that the wolf and her family were starving – she-wolf would do what is necessary for her children. The kosmos of the wolf was not much different from that of the townspeople. Francis received the pledge of the wolf to change her way. He received the pledge of the town to care for the family. Francis brought them both into a new world.

Refugee caravans leave Central America. They leave a world of drug and gang violence where intimidation, extortion and murder as the reality of their kosmos They travel across Mexico where intimidation, bribery, and the slow death of a spirit are the reality of their kosmos. They reach the border to find intimidation, the deployment of the mightiest Armed forces in the world, and the gateway to peace and hope closed.  They have to wonder about the world, the kosmos in which they live.

Christ the King does not reign over a kosmos that operated as did Pilate, or young Francis of Assisi. His kingdom is not there. But the Kingdom is in the midst of the world – and each day we choose what world we will live in.  “Who can do more for you, the servant or the Lord?” “The Lord,” said Francis. “Then why do you seek the servant instead of the Lord?” Francis then asked: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr understood: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Christ the King Sunday is a day when we are reminded of the words of Pope Pius XI, who instituted the Solemnity celebration. He said that Christ should reign in our minds, our will, our hearts, and our bodies – in the choices we make. It is a day we ask, “Lord, what you want me to do” as we kneel before Christ the King. The answer will always be to do our part to build the kosmos with truth, light, and love.

This is Christ the King Sunday. Amen.

Image credit: “The Mocking of Christ” | Ciambue, 1290 | Louvre, Paris | PD-US